AN: So I was really bored one night and I was surfing the Internet. After a few hours of boredom I decided to search to see if they had any books for Mako Mermaids. I did find one, but it was in German. I don't speak German, do you see my dilemma? ...anyway, it would have cost a lot of money for me to buy the book, ship it from wherever it was in Europe (probably Germany) and have it translated. And this is money that I don't have, so I guess this could be good news for all those Germans out there. More for you...
So long story short, I said, 'Screw it, I'll write my own.' So enjoy the book version of Mako Mermaids, in English, and for FREE! More to come I promise! ...and yes there are scenes in here that didn't happen in the show just to give it some detail. And I did cut out a few things (again, sorry!). Also I'm sorry that I had to change some of the wording of the dialogue, it was just so that it would make more sense.
I hope you all enjoy it!
The sea water off the Australian Gold Coast shined in the late summer sun. But despite the beautiful weather, a feeling of gloom settled over the kids and teenagers of Queensland Australia. It was late January and school was about to get back into session, in fact, with school starting on Monday there were only four days of freedom left.
Up and down the coast, the beaches were packed to the max with teenagers trying to enjoy their last bit of summer holiday. This didn't exclude Cam Mitchell and Zac Blakely, two boys going into their sophomore year, getting ready for a camping trip.
Cam was the older of the two, only by a month. He had untamable golden blonde hair and bright blue gray eyes.
Zac, though younger, was taller and more muscular than Cam. He had dark hair and brown eyes with a deep tan complexion.
The two had been friends for longer than either of them could remember. They were the very best of friends, almost inseparable.
"Are you ready?" Cam asked as Zac handed him the last duffle bag to be stored underneath the bench of his tinny.
"Yup!" Zac replied. The two of them were headed out camping for the last few days of their summer holiday.
Cam started the motor for the boat as Zac untied the ropes connecting them to the dock and pushed them off the dock. Then Cam steered the boat east and headed them towards Mako Island.
Mako was a deserted island that lied a few miles offshore. Nobody ever visited the island which made it the perfect place for a get away, even if it was infested with mosquitoes.
But there was more to this summer day than met the normal human eye. Zac and Cam were completely oblivious to the magic happening beneath them in the waves.
Two mermaids were racing to their favorite spot on the coral reef. The first mermaid, Nixie, was in the lead but the second, Sirena, wasn't more than a meter behind her.
Nixie reached out and tagged the designated finish just seconds before Sirena did.
Nixie playfully stuck her tongue out and rose to the surface to get some air. Unlike some myths, mermaids can't stay underwater forever so they surface every few hours just to get some fresh air in their lungs. But that was just one of the many things that humans were yet to understand or discover about mermaids.
After Nixie surfaced she took one look at Sirena's unamused face and couldn't stop herself from laughing. "See. I'm so much faster than you!" Nixie figured it wouldn't hurt to rub it in some more.
This sort of friendly competition was normal for these two mermaids. They were constantly trying to one-up each other, who could swim the fastest (Nixie), who could go without air the longest (Sirena held the record at 2 days and 13 hours) and they were always comparing their powers. When it came to powers, they were pretty evenly matched, as were all the other mermaids in their training. Their skills wouldn't segregate until after they got their moon rings.
Sirena rolled her eyes at Nixie, "You are SO not!" But before Nixie could respond, the water behind them abruptly rippled and two heads poked out of the water. Nixie and Sirena turned to face their visitor, it was Aquata, Sirena's older sister, and her best friend Maya.
"Aquata." Sirena said timidly. Nobody in the entire pod could help but be a little afraid of Aquata. She was kind, but overly stern and you did not want to be on her bad side. Sirena and Aquata were very close but even she was conscious about what she said around her sister.
"Sirena, what are you doing here?" Aquata asked in her usual no-nonsense tone of voice, "You should be on duty."
"W-we were just going. Weren't we Nixie?" Sirena stammered, her eyes pleaded with Nixie to play along. Sirena didn't like to be scolded or reprimanded by anyone, but Nixie on the other hand wasn't one to shy away from conflict.
"Really? Full moon patrol?" Nixie directed her counter to Aquata, "Why can't we celebrate, like everyone else?"
Aquata laughed like she almost expected that answer, "You'll get your chance when you've earned it, when you've got your moon rings. Someone's meant to protect the island during the ceremony. Go on and find Lyla," Aquata appointed. Then she and Maya ducked under the water and sped away from the two mermaids.
Protecting Mako on a full moon was bad enough but now they had been grouped with Lyla. Not only was she insufferable and closed minded but she was incredibly disagreeable and had no friends in the pod at all.
"We should go." Sirena said quietly. She dove down and Nixie reluctantly followed. They headed to the north side of the island, where they planned to meet with Lyla. They hadn't gotten very far before Sirena heard an unfamiliar and unnatural sound coming from the surface. Her eyes drifted upward to see a small boat looming above her head. Sirena turned to warn Nixie but she had already disappeared around a corner of the reef.
Sirena sped up to find Nixie (and to get away from the boat) but by the time she found her, Lyla had already come into view.
Lyla's head was above water so she hadn't seem them yet. Even without seeing her face they already knew she was angry. Lyla's arms were crossed with her thumb impatiently tapping the seconds away, and her tail was flicking back and forth angrily.
Nixie shrugged and drifted towards the surface before Sirena had a chance to tell her about the boat. Sirena glanced wearily behind her but followed Nixie. They both surfaced behind Lyla, so her back was to them.
With out turning around she said, "You're late."
Nixie scoffed, "So?"
Lyla whipped her head around and glared at Nixie, "I'm on the far shore, you two get the rest. we'll meet back here." Then without another word she sunk back below the surface.
Nixie rolled her eyes and turned back to Sirena, "Who put her in charge?"
"Ni-" Sirena started, but Nixie (again) ducked below the water before she could say anything.
A few hundred meters up the beach, Cam had just turned off the motor and Zac stepped to the bow, to throw the anchor.
"What about here?" Zac asked. Cam nodded and continued to look through his belongings. After her found what he was looking for (his fishing rod), he began to string up his lure and hook on the bait.
"What are you doing?" Zac asked, peering over at him.
"What does it look like I'm doing, mate?" Cam retorted sarcastically. He cast out his line and waited.
"You won't catch anything." Zac said while shaking his head. He looked back at the deserted island that loomed in front of them.
Cam threw his friend a competitive look, "You're just worried that I'll catch something before you do."
Zac took the bait (metaphorically and literally) and smirked, "Game on." He reached his fishing rod and hooked the bait.
Zac cast out his line and waited to determine the winner of their competition.
A disturbance in the water sent shivers down Nixie's spine, she felt something unnatural and unwelcome in the water around her. She stopped swimming. She glanced to her left and saw a boat bobbing along the surface.
Her eyes widened with excitement. Nixie couldn't contain her curiosity for land people, she sometimes escaped the pod to swim to shore. She never got out of the water, of course, but they were fascinating to watch. Land People had so much culture and technology that they took for granted all around them, while mermaids... not so much.
Even though she watched them often, Nixie never got to see Land People this close.
This was her golden opportunity.
Without waiting for Sirena, she turned and swam in the direction of the boat. After she was a few meters behind it, Nixie surfaced (out of sight) and started to listen to their conversation.
"...yeah, but she looked right at me and smiled. We had a connection," the blond land boy said.
"You say that about every girl that even gives you a second glance," the second land boy said. He started laughing while the blond boy glared back.
Suddenly the water rippled next to Nixie and Sirena's head emerged from the water. "Land people," Sirena scoffed, "Could you imagine having to live without a tail?"
Nixie wondered how the two of them were best friends, she loved this stuff and Sirena didn't. Nixie was always filled with curiosity and Sirena couldn't care less about anything outside their realm. Nixie was extremely hotheaded while Sirena was calm and always made more rational decisions and was the peacemaker of their pod.
Nixie spied the fishing poles hanging over the edge of the land people boat, "Let's give them a hand catching something," she said with a smirk and a dangerous twinkle in her eye.
"We can't do that!" Sirena exclaimed, "We're meant to scare the fish away so none of them come close to the island."
"Sirena, we're stuck on land patrol. Letting them catch one fish isn't going to hurt. Let's have some fun." Nixie coaxed. She then dove under the waves without waiting for Sirena's rely.
Nixie swam right up underneath and dangerously close to the boat and put her hands on the first fishing line and gave it a sharp tug. She heard the fishing rod give a sharp squeal above her head as the owner started to try and reel in the line. After a small game of tug-of-war Nixie released her end of the line.
An disappointed sigh came from the surface.
Sirena gave Nixie a disapproving look while Nixie just laughed at the trouble she caused.
There was a muffled conversation above, and soon after the same fishing line was cast out again. This time Sirena found a good sized fish, that would be sufficient enough to send both of the land people home. She corralled the fish over to the line that Nixie hadn't tugged on and guided the fish to the bait. She gave an apologetic look to the fish and swam over to meet Nixie.
Together they swam back to their original position, a few meters behind the boat.
"Get the net! Get the net!" Cam was yelling. Zac was scrambling around the boat, trying to fulfill his friend's request. After finding it, Zac dipped the mesh in the water and pulled out the fish that Sirena picked out for them.
There was a strange chuckle from one of the land boys as the fish continued to flop around on the deck of the boat. Nixie and Sirena smiled at their work.
"What are you doing?" A very annoyed voice said from behind them. They didn't need to turn around to know that it was Lyla who was talking.
"N-nothing." Sirena stammered.
"Look, they've caught their fish. Now they'll go home." Nixie sounded a lot more confident than she really was. True, the land boys were packing up their stuff, but they were drifting toward the island and neither of them seemed to show any signs of leaving.
"Doesn't look like their going home, to me." Lyla replied with a snark.
The mermaids watched in fear as the anchor of the boat was pulled up and the boat was guided the rest of the way to shore. Once the boat was secured on land, Cam and Zac grabbed their gear from the storage comportment in the the tinny. Now, with the gear loaded on their backs, the boys hiked their way up the beach and into the dense jungle.
After a half an hour of hiking the the two came across a clearing in the jungle, right next to a creek. It was just big enough to fit a the two of them, a tent and a campfire.
"It's perfect." Zac exclaimed, setting his bag down. He heaved a big sigh as he sat down in the grass, it was a relief to be off of his feet.
Cam, who was struggling to keep up made it to the clearing and set down his stuff. Zac looked at him, and then at the tent laying by his feet.
"Oh no, no. I caught the fish. You do the tent." Cam panted, he was still out of breath. He kicked the pack from him over to Zac.
Zac scrunched up his nose, but he knew that his friend was right. So, reluctantly, he did as he was told.
Lyla swam along the eastern shore of the island to find where the boat was parked. Unfortunately, it was still there.
The sky had turned to the color of cat vomit, and the sun was sinking below the horizon. The full moon would be up soon. Lyla started her swim back to the moon pool.
'How could Nixie and Sirena have been so stupid!?' she thought to herself. She always knew that Nixie was reckless, although she had always thought that Sirena could pull her back. But not when it really counts. Now the entire island and pod were in danger!
Lyla swam along the shoreline of Mako looking for the cave opening to the sacred moon pool. She swam through the crystal clear waters and surfaced in the pool. Sirena was sitting in one corner of the pool threading some of her bracelets but as soon as Lyla swam through the entrance, she abandoned her work. Nixie looked bored and didn't even acknowledge the fact that Lyla had entered the cave.
"Their both still here," Lyla announced, "Their staying on the island."
"Can you relax? So, we broke one stupid rule," Nixie droned.
"Keep telling yourself that," Lyla snapped. Why couldn't Nixie just admit that she was wrong and that she made a mistake? They wouldn't be in this mess if it weren't for her. The mermaids in my pod are just so insensitive! Lyla thought.
"No, I'll keep telling you, okay? Land people come on Mako all the time." Nixie said, like it was no big deal.
"Not when it's a full moon and the pod is celebrating," Sirena pitched in.
Nixie gave her a disapproving look to her friend for not taking her side, "Oh, so what?! Come on, please. It's not like anyone's gonna see anything. And next year, I'll be out on the reef with the pod."
Lyla scoffed, "If you pass." Nixie wasn't exactly known for being the teachers pet during training, it was usually a miracle if she even showed up at all. The final exams for their training was coming up quickly and if they scored high marks then they would earn their moon rings. Moon rings were powerful pieces of jewelry that helped enhance mermaid powers. It was very hard to control them and took a lot of strength and willpower.
"That's not an issue." Nixie said quietly, almost like she didn't believe it herself.
"Oh, man!" Cam said with a mouth full of fish, "How good was that?"
Zac scrunched up his nose, "It's a bit rubbery," he looked over at his friend's somewhat hurt expression and quickly added, "but not bad."
They were silent for a moment with nothing to talk about. What a sad existence. Cam thought to himself. He was so stultified, there was nothing to do here. He escaped his same old boring life to go on a boring old camping trip. But if he wanting to be with anyone at least he was here with his best friend.
"So, where are the chicks? Where's the music? This is not like the movies. You should have asked Evie." Cam said.
Zac shook his head, "No, she hates camping."
"It's not exactly my idea of a good time either."
"Well, school starts next week. We won't get another chance to get away." Zac said looking sadly down at his shoes. School was always a bit of a struggle for him and he wasn't looking forward to his return.
"Two days on a deserted island..." With no wifi or cell service, Cam added silently. "Great. I'm gonna crash." Cam said standing up, he pulled off his shirt and kicked off his flip-flops in preparation for bed.
"You snore, I hit you." Zac threatened. He also stood up but began to walk away from the campsite.
"Where are you going?" Cam asked, already his voice was sounding groggier.
"Nature calls." Zac replied, simply. Cam nodded, getting the message. Zac, then, walked over the mini creek that ran along their campsite and headed toward the base of the dormant volcano.
Nixie moved her arms back and forth in the water creating small ripples as they went, she looked over at Sirena, who was back threading shells and beads onto some thin cords. The silence was a little to uncomfortable for Nixie, "Man, I just can't wait for my training to be over."
Sirena looked up and smiled at her. "Me too."
She was cut short by a hush from Lyla, "It's starting."
The three of them leaned back and watched the full moon pass over the cone of the volcano, everything in the cave basked in the glow of the blue light. And the moon pool bubbled to life.
Zac pulled up the zipper to his pants and started back toward the campsite when an eerie light caught the corner of his eye. At first he thought it was just a reflection of the moon light, but everything around him was bathed in blue light, this was a strong yellow glow. It seemed so warm and inviting, like it was calling to him. Zac slowly turned his body toward it and discovered the light coming from a cave entrance.
For a moment, Zac considered going back to get Cam, but he knew that he'd never find this place again. He took a few hesitant steps toward the cave. And soon he was through the entryway.
There was rock everywhere, rock walls, rock ceiling, rock flooring. As he made his way through the narrow path, Zac began to feel claustrophobic and was almost tempted to turn back, but it was almost as if his body wouldn't let him. He kept moving forward. Soon, much to his relief, the pathway opened up to a cavernous room that was filled with the same yellow light.
There was a large rock panel in front of him and carved right in the center was a glowing symbol that resembled a trident. Zac stared at the symbol, it seemed so familiar to him yet he couldn't explain where he had seen it before. As he continued to stare, the glowing got brighter and brighter until it was all that he could see. Subconsciously, he reached out a hand to touch it. As soon as he placed his hand on the cool rock, something felt different. The ground beneath his shoes felt soft and all of a sudden there wasn't ground at all!
Zac remembered a long fall and a splash, but then his vision went dark.
"Ahhh!" Someone yelled from above the mermaids' heads.
Their eyes shot open to see who or what made the noise. Suddenly a large splash interrupted the serene waters of the moon pool, there were waves everywhere and water sloshing over the edges.
Bubbles engulfed the figure and dots of yellow light danced towards the sky. The girls dove down and worked together to pull up the unconscious person. Upon bringing him to the surface, Nixie and Sirena immediately recognized him as one of the boys that were camping on Mako. Lyla must have known who it was as well because she threw the others a disgusted look. The three of them were utterly speechless.
It wasn't until the moon completely disappeared over the volcano that Sirena found her voice, "She need to get him out of here. Somewhere safe." Even though she tried to sound confident, her voice still trembled.
The others nodded in agreement and they same through the opening in the pool to the open ocean. It was slow going but they eventually found an area of the beach that was close to his boat, which was anchored to shore.
The three mermaids pushed the boy as far onto shore as possible and disappeared, leaving no traces of themselves behind.
Cam yawned and opened his eyes. Blinking the haze from his sight, he remembered the past day and where he was. Mako Island. Camping. Zac. Zac? Where was he? His sleeping bag was empty next to him, and it didn't look like anyone had slept there. It was too neat.
Cam tentatively rolled onto his stomach and climbed out of the tent on his hands and knees. The hot coals of the their fire last night were still smoldering and everything looked exactly as it had the night before. There was no sign that Zac had returned to camp. Something must have happened to him! He quickly slipped on his shoes and threw his shirt over his head.
Then Cam bolted from the campsite in the direction that he'd seen Zac go the night before. "Zac?!" he called out.
After wandering through the jungle for ten minutes he knew he wouldn't find him in there. Then Cam suddenly remembered then plan that they had set up. If the two of them would ever get lost, they would always meet back up at the boat. So, he turned east and headed towards the rising sun and the beach.
As Cam emerged from the underbrush he squinted in the bright sunlight, for a moment he couldn't see anything. Then things slowly came into focus. There was his boat anchored onto shore and just a few hundred meters up the beach there was Zac laying on the hot sand, unmoving.
Cam ran over to his best friend, and shook him, "Zac? Are you okay?"
For a terrifying moment, Zac was unresponsive then suddenly he groaned and jolted upright. "Cam?" He said groggily, "What happened last night?"
Nixie, Lyla and Sirena were exhausted. They had been up all night worrying and all of them hadn't gotten a wink of sleep.
Sirena was the first of them to break the defeaning silence, "I feel bad leaving him there. Unconscious."
Nixie voiced the the thoughts that had been bothering her all night, "How did he even get in? There's no other entrance," she looked up to the cone of the volcano, "It's solid rock up there." The sky was now visible at the top of the peak, it was now turning from pink to blue showing the sign of a new day beginning. A long, hard day for those three, no doubt.
"Well, he did." Lyla sneered. Her initial reaction to the Land Boy wasn't shock, it was anger.
Sirena crinkled her eyebrows together and choked back a sob, "We're in so much trouble."
The trek back to the campsite was agonizingly slow for both Cam and Zac. Every few steps Zac would have to stop and catch his breath, it was painful for Cam to watch. Zac had no recollection of what had happened the night before, but he did know that it left him woozy and he didn't feel like himself. He felt uncomfortable in his own skin, like he would burst out at any moment if he wasn't careful.
When they finally reached the camp Zac collapsed of front of the tent and didn't move for a few moments. When he finally caught his breath and mentally prepared himself to sit up, he did so. Cam handed him a cup of water, "You looked awful!"
Zac gave a half laugh and sarcastically replied, "Thanks."
"Where'd you sleep? Do you even remember?" Cam asked.
Zac closed his eyes to concentrated, "Well, I remember walking off to take a leak. I saw a light."
"Well last night was a full moon," Cam suggested.
"Not moonlight," Zac disregarded, "Like a weird glow. There were rocks and when I moved closer there was this cave. Next thing I knew I was waking up on the beach." Zac stopped for a moment and looked up at Cam's doubtful face, "You don't believe me."
Cam shook his head, smirking, "No."
"Fine," Zac said standing up, "I'll show you then. Come on."
Zac, with his strength regained, started to retrace his steps from the night before. They made their way up along the small creek until Zac found found the familiar rock wall that he peed on last night. "There was an opening here - a cave."
"Then this isn't the place." Cam said shaking his head.
"It is." Zac insisted.
"Maybe you dreamt it," Cam replied.
"I know what I saw!" Zac said, but then he paused. Maybe Cam was right, maybe he was going unhinged. "I think." He added at last.
"Yeah, sure." Cam answered and walked away. He left Zac there, clinging to the brink of his sanity. 'What had happened to me,' he wondered.
"We have to tell the pod," Sirena whimpered, her bottom lip was trembling. The thought of it had made her sick to her stomach and it felt like she would blow chunks at any minute. She knew she would let her sister down and now she, Nixie and Lyla we all going to be in major trouble. The consequences would be dire.
"Are you crazy?!" Lyla burst out.
"We've got no choice." Sirena replied. "We can't lie to them."
"Fine. Tell the pod. See how long it takes to get your moon rings," Lyla retorted. Sirena was scared that she was right, if anyone found out the three of them wouldn't be trusted for a long time especially not with their own moon rings.
"There's got to be a better way to handle this." Nixie chimed in quietly.
Two heads surfaced in the moon pool near the entrance, it was Aquata and Maya. They had heard the last bit of Nixie's statement! There was no going back or lying now.
"Handle what?" Aquata asked forcefully, "What happened here last night?"
After the incident at the volcano, Zac felt extremely uneasy. He knew things just didn't logically add up. How could he wake up on the beach if he was a mile inland? What about the strange dream he'd had? Or the memories of the glowing cave?
Cam and Zac marched through the jungle in silence until they reached the campsite. As soon as they got there, Zac seized the nearest bag and started packing their gear.
"You're kidding!" Cam called out. "I packed all that stuff! I thought we were here for two nights. We just got here!"
"Forget it, I don't like this place." Zac said absentmindedly as he continued to shove items into a pack.
"Well it was your idea." Cam fired back. But he started to disassemble the tent despite his protests.
The question that Aquata asked hung heavy in the air between the five of them.
"We didn't mean to let it happen. But he got in here, somehow." Sirena recalled, quietly.
"You let a boy into the moon pool?!" Maya practically yelled at them.
"We didn't let him in. He fell." Nixie snapped.
"That's impossible. There's no other way in. What did you do?" Aquata was trying her best to sound calm, but failing miserably.
"Nothing!" Sirena implored again.
"Stop lying." Maya accused.
"We're not lying. We didn't do anything!," Sirena whimpered, "Please don't tell the pod."
"We have no choice," Maya said cruelly, turning and disappearing out of the moon pool. She was going to tattle on them, no doubt.
Aquata inhaled, her breath shaking as she did so, "If what you say is true, and something has happened to the boy. Then I fear for us all." Then she, too, swam out of the moon pool to follow her friend.
"What if she's wrong?" Nixie suggested, "What if nothing has happened to the boy?" She looked around at the others, their faces questioning. "We have to find out."
Cam and Zac hauled all the gear back to the boat and set course back to the mainland. They rode together in silence and slowly, per Zac's request, because he was still feeling a bit queasy from that morning. After the 45 minute ride back, Cam traveled up the main channel until finding the cove where Zac lived. When his boat pulled up to the dock Zac climbed off, picked up his gear, and waved a goodbye to his friend.
He hung up the blue towel that he was carrying onto a post on his dock. Then he marched up the jetty and turned on the outside faucet to wash his fishing gear. Little did he know, he was being watched.
The heads surfaced underneath the dock, and precariously watched the land boy. The everyday actions that he preformed were completely foreign to Nixie, Lyla and Sirena.
"This is wrong," Sirena moaned, "No mermaid is allowed this close to shore." Nixie rolled her eyes, Sirena could be such a goody-goody and never broke the rules like Nixie would.
"What if they see us?" Lyla wondered allowed.
"Oh! Don't worry! I've been here plenty of times and no one's seen me." Nixie reassured them. The two others craned their heads and looked astonishingly at Nixie. She then quickly added, "I happen to like watching land people. Okay? Now can we have some shush?"
They turned their attention back to the land boy. The mermaids held their breath as he was about to rinse of some of his fishing gear. But he didn't get so far as a finger under the running water before it started to bend in the opposite direction!
Zac dropped the trinket he was holding and exclaimed, "Woah!" He held his now empty hand out to the water and the same thing happened, the water bent and maneuvered any which way that he commanded.
"He's got powers!" Sirena said, stating the obvious.
Zac lifted his hands up to his face and examined them. He didn't notice anything different or weird about them, they just looked like his normal hands. So, what was happening?
Zac abandoned his work and hurried along the road that ran by the beach (the mermaids followed and watched him very closely) as he arrived to a small oceanfront café that ran along a pier.
He found Cam sitting at a table outside on the deck with Zac's girlfriend, Evie. "Hi, Zac!" She grabbed his hand and gave him a reassuring squeeze and a kiss on the cheek.
"Evie, hey," he replied, trying to hide the excitement in his voice. He turned to Cam, "I really need to show you something."
"Are you okay?" Evie interrupted, "Cam said you felt weird and bailed on the camping trip."
"Yeah," he nodded, "I'm fine now."
"Are you up for a run after I finish my shift?" Evie asked.
"Sure," Zac responded, growing agitated, if he didn't tell someone soon he felt as if he was going to explode, "Um, I just really need to talk to Cam."
Cam, noticing the urgency in his friends voice, stood up and let Zac lead him down to the jetty where all of the sailboats and yachts were kept. "Something happened to me last night." Zac began.
"Yeah, you had a dream." Cam responded distantly. His mind wasn't with Zac, it was with the half-eaten burger that he had left on the table.
"I can make water move!" Zac said excitedly. This caught Cam's attention and he let out a fit of wheezing laughter.
"I'll show you." Zac found a coiled up hose and picked it up and handed it to Cam. He rubbed his hands together, "Turn it on." He directed.
Cam rolled his eyes and didn't move.
"Just do it." Zac This time Cam listened and unscrewed the nozzle on the hose so the water ran freely. Zac theatrically held out his hand the same way he had done before and ... nothing happened. It happened before, why couldn't he do it now? Zac groaned in exasperation. "I could make it move! I could make it bend."
"You dragged me away from lunch for this," Cam reminded, his mind now refocused back on his double decker, bacon, cheese burger. Just thinking about it made him practically sprint back to the café.
Zac, now alone, picked up the hose. He flicked his hand and water came spurting out of the top of it, drenching him in icy water. Zac took a step back to get away front the hose, that was a mistake. He was right on the edge of the dock, and flailing his arms, he fell into the ocean with a startling splash.
For a moment, all was normal he was just a boy who had fallen into the ocean, and then that moment ended. Zac lost all feeling in his legs as tingles enveloped them. 'Just a cramp,' he told himself. The tingling in his limbs had subsided, but there was a certain stiffness left about them. It felt ... different.
Using his arms only, Zac propelled himself to the surface, gasped for air and blinked the salt water out of his eyes. He lifted his legs to see what was wrong with them, only they weren't his legs. Instead of flesh and feet there were blue scales and a fin. He had a tail!
"What the-" Zac breathed out. He was interrupted by voices and footsteps coming down the pier and he panicked. Nobody could see him like this!
Zac started to swim freestyle, like the way he had been taught to do for his entire life, but it felt unnatural. He decided to give his tail (those were two words he thought would never be used to describe him) a flick and it launched him out to sea, away from prying eyes at the bay.
Well, maybe not all prying eyes. Nixie, Lyla and Sirena had watched the entire scene unfold before them. In fact, they were responsible for Zac not being able to show Cam his powers. They followed Zac, not too far behind, back to his house.
They watched with horror and bewilderment and the boy thrust himself onto the dock outside his house. And laid his tail uselessly on the on the dock as the boy glanced around for any onlookers.
Zac, now sure that he was alone, more closely examined his new extension that stretched out before him. He picked at one of the scales and felt a sharp pain as he freed it from his tail. It was real, this wasn't a prank. He was actually a-a-. Zac couldn't bring himself to say or think it.
He reached up for the towel he had hung up earlier and laid it over his tail in a desperate attempt to cover himself up. 'What if it never comes off!?' he thought worriedly, 'What will Mom and Dad think?!'
But before his anxiousness could grow even larger, the tingling feeling returned and he watched in sheer awe as his blue tail shrank back into his feet. Slowly and shakily, he stood up. Zac wasn't sure if his legs would hold up, seeing as though a few seconds before he didn't even have legs. But they held as strongly as ever. And without a second thought, Zac jogged back into his house to figure out what had just happened to him.
The girls swam back to Mako in silence. As they surfaced in the moon pool, they realized that they weren't alone. "Aquata?" Sirena asked at the sight of her sister.
"I'm so sorry." Aqauta breathed. She was trying to be strong for Sirena, but with no avail.
"We can explain," Nixie offered.
"It's too late!" Aqauta cried, "You neglected your duties. You let a boy onto the island and you let him into the moon pool. You broke so many laws."
"We didn't mean to. We didn't want the boy to get powers." Sirena sniveled.
"The boy and the island are connected. The pod must leave." Aquata said assuredly.
"This is our home," said Nixie.
"It's not safe here anymore." Came Aquata's response.
"Where will we go?" Lyla spoke up.
"Not you, the pod is going. None of you may follow. You've all been cast out." Aquata wailed. And at this point the rest of them had tears in their eyes as well.
"Aquata, talk to them. Tell them it was a mistake!" Nixie pleaded.
"I can't. They blame you. I tried to speak on your behalf, but they wouldn't listen. I have to go. The pod is waiting." Aquata's voice grew quieter. Her eyes were apologetic as she turned to her sister.
"No. Please, Aquata. Don't leave me!" Sirena bawled.
"I'm sorry Sirena. Here," she said sliding off her moon ring and placing it in the palm of her sister's hand, "Take this."
"Your moon ring," Sirena stated blatantly, "But I don't know how to use it."
"Just take it," Aquata insisted, "You may need it. Find somewhere safe." Aquata pulled Sirena into a tight embrace, where they both sobbed onto each others shoulders.
"Good-bye my sister." Aquata said, sinking below the surface.
"Don't," Sirena said in one last feeble attempt to get her sister to stay, "Aquata don't leave me!"
Sirena's last wail echoed through the cave and finally a deafening silence settled in the air that was only broken by Sirena's blubbering sobs.
Zac stood up and paced around his room. After that got old and he grew tried of habitually walking back and forth, he went into the bathroom and looked at himself in the mirror. He saw himself, just like he had expected. Think dark brown hair and chocolate and hazelnut eyes, the same tan skin and full lips. But even though he still looked like the same Zac Blakely, there was a different aura that surrounded him. It was almost as if a terrible weight had been lifted off of his shoulders and he was now free. Only now did he realize how amazing it felt.
He looked straight into the mirror and held his own gaze for a few seconds before murmuring, "Merman." Then he repeated it, again and again each time his voice increasing with volume. The word felt foreign on his tongue but after a few tries he liked the way it came out so naturally.
He thought for a moment, then held out his hand and the tap on the faucet burst to life. He smiled at the new trick he had learned and decided to try it on a bigger scale. He quickly checked the time, his parents should be home for another couple of hours, which gave him plenty of time to experiment.
Zac grabbed an extra towel for later and advanced toward his dock and without taking his clothes off, slithered into the water. He held his breath as the transformation took him over again, this time he welcomed the sensation. It was like stretching your legs out after a really long car ride, only one hundred times better.
He didn't have long to relax before a voice called out, "Zac! You here?" Footsteps drew closer to the dock. Zac tensed up for a moment and then realized it was only Cam. He thought for a moment about hiding himself, but then decided against it. His best friend did have a right to know that he had transformed into a merman.
"I'm over here." Zac called back. Cam followed the sound of his voice and stood along the edge of the jetty, looking down at Zac.
For a moment, there was silence. Then Cam's eyes widened with shock and the realization hit him. "What the-," his statement died in his throat. A few seconds later he regained his ability to speak, "You've got a tail!"
Zac laughed, "I told you something happened! Check this," Zac raised his arm above the water and flicked his hand, and a ball of water floated out of the ocean and hovered in mid air a meter above Cam's head.
"Heads up!" Zac warned and the ball of water drenched Cam from head to toe.
Cam looked utterly astounded. "How did you do that?"
Zac said nothing but just smiled and laughed, there would be a long conversation ahead. But right then, we was just going to enjoy the dumbfounded look on his best friend's face.
Nixie wished that she could say something in order to comfort her friend, but no words came to her head.
"Where will we go?" Sirena whimpered quietly.
Lyla thought about this for a moment, she had always wanted to be alone and not bothered by anyone. But this was too much, she felt utterly and completely abandoned. Nixie lifted her head a bit higher than before, "We're not going anywhere. We're going to put this right."
"How?" Sirena asked in disbelief.
Lyla slowly nodded her head, "We'll find a way. We have to."
I really hope that you guys enjoyed that! I worked very hard on this, for many months. (I think I started writing this in January) I hope to continue and write more episodes! Please leave a comment and tell me what you think and don't forget to check out my other Mako stories! I can't wait to see what you guys think of this!
Swim Safely
~SammieNel